6 mo. old cries the whole time he's 'scooting'

[akat]

So my 6 mo. old is learning to scoot, but he cries the whole time. He's been sort of trying to learn to move on his tummy for a couple of months, and whenever he's trying, he's crying. If he's just hanging out on his tummy, playing with something, he's fine.

It's like a frustrated crying. Like, "I want to move but it's so hard, this sucks, I hate it, I'm doing it, but I hate it." Now that he's pretty successful, I thought there'd be some, "Yay, I'm doing it!" happiness...but no. Still cries the whole time, til someone picks him up.

I also think, if he hates it so much, why does he keep doing it, lol? If I pick him up, sit him up, whatever, he flips right back on the tummy, trying and crying.

Anybody else experience similar?

[hildare]

yup! when dd was trying the next developmental thing (and occasionally as she wants to walk now) it would be expressed in cries of frustration. it calmed down a little upon being able to crawl/army crawl/scoot enough to get into things, though.

[busymama77]

My little guy is 5 months and he does the same thing until you sit him up or pick him up. It's more of a fuss than anything. He's learning to scoot and turn around on his tummy, so yes, I think there are times when he just gets tired of trying and wants to be re-directed to a different position. I don't think it's really anything to worry about.

[menow]

I agree with hildare. DD2 now 8 months did exactly as you were describing when she first learned to crawl a couple of months ago. It's almost like she was frustrated she couldn't quite go fast enough. It was like her brain knew what to do it was her body that wasn't cooperating. I also noticed that if I was a great distance from her that would set her off more....almost as if she was thinking, "Mommy, you are WAY too far away for me to crawl all the way over there." Now that she's a proficient crawler she's much happier. There are still sometimes she fusses until I pick her up but on most days she'll just crawl on over to me if she needs anything.

[akat]

Yeah, I wasn't really worried, just feel bad for the poor little slug. He doesn't start fussing after he gets tired of it, he starts fussing from the first second. I hope he doesn't suffer this much frustration for every milestone!

[1blueheron]

not crawling yet here, but I've noticed LO gets angrier about her limitations if it's close to nap time. First hour after waking up from a nap is prime time for fuss-free floor play.

[toughcookie]

Originally Posted by akat

It's like a frustrated crying. Like, "I want to move but it's so hard, this sucks, I hate it, I'm doing it, but I hate it." Now that he's pretty successful, I thought there'd be some, "Yay, I'm doing it!" happiness...but no.

i feel exactly the same way when i do pilates. eventually he (and hopefully me) will get it easily and say, YAY!!

[lucy_v]

Like 1blueheron said, maybe it's a timing thing? My DD sometimes does the same thing, usually when something else is going on... tired (overtired, esp.), gas/pee/poop, hungry, or she'd just rather be held/moved, etc.

[texmati]

My son was exactly the same way. He would have to coaxed on to his tummy, and would cry the whole time he was scooting.

Sometimes he'd get half way to the toy, and put his head down on the floor and give a wail of despair, before starting to scoot again. This lasted for about a months, but now that he's gotten the hang of crawling on all fours, he's perfectly happy. I think he didn't like have to grub on the floor for a toy when the rest of us could walk. Crawling is much more dignified.

[texmati]

Originally Posted by toughcookie

i feel exactly the same way when i do pilates. eventually he (and hopefully me) will get it easily and say, YAY!!

LOL, I hate to admit it, but DS totally get's his personality about this from me! DH swears DS is a late crawler because of me. It does break my heart to see him struggle with anything (turning pages, opening boxes ect)